#DFG: Canceling the Noise

Is there any level of suspension that you would advise Tom to accept?


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Average Reds

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dcmissle said:
So the torrent of leaks has slowed to a trickle. A good part of that I'm inclined to attribute to the professionalism of Ted Wells.
The torrent of leaks continued well after Ted Wells was hired.

The reason the torrent has slowed to a trickle is because the Super Bowl is over and the Pats won, which has the effect of taking the air out of this "faux scandal."
 

Ed Hillel

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Did anyone actually hear the Hailey interview? I'm not being hyperbolic in saying the guy actually said like 7 things that weren't real words. He said Brady lacked
"Inteddidy." I had to listen to some sentences like 5 times and even then was left guessing trying to figure out his gibberish. I actually feel bad for the guy, he is not all there.
 

soxfanSJCA

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DrewDawg said:
 
Any punishment now has no effect on the Super Bowl so my worry level dropped to just barely above 0.0 on this thing.
 
An off-season distraction is meaningless to me. We know they aren't getting hit hard unless Kraft, BB, and Brady all lied and I don't buy that for a second, so bring on a $25,000 fine for some nebulous reason and let's move on.
 
Acquiescence was the spygate response, almost 8 years later and there has never been any actual "moving on" for so many people.
Letting things go now will just fan the flames, and extend the perimeter of casual fans that will now have 2 bullets attached to every NEP argument
regardless of the topic- spygate, ballghazi, etc.
 
I hope Robert Kraft goes full scorched earth if the NEP are fined/penalized over anything without clear indisputable proof.
If not for the NEP fans, than for the legacy of BB and TB.
 
If Roger Goodell has no proof and still acts, it may be his last decision as an NFL employee.
I don't speak 4.5 "billionairease", but i am pretty sure this is what Robert Kraft was intimating last week.
 

RememberTheGronkans

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Here's what Mike Reiss had to say about the whole Haley thing:

"The thing I always stress is that anyone can have an opinion, but it takes work to have an informed opinion. Speaking for myself, when I'm curious about a topic, I usually try to find those I believe fall into the "informed opinion" category. In this case, Charles Haley doesn't qualify for me."
 

LogansDad

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Bone Chips said:
I'm not so sure about that. The level of bitching and crying in the NFL has reached ridiculous levels, and you can't escape from it. I feel like I'm back in elementary school when I try to discuss football these days. And forget listening to talk radio or watching ESPN anymore. When I see a grown man like Mark Brunell crying about unsubstantiated allegations of deflated footballs, it makes me feel embarrassed and a little ashamed that I spend so much time and energy following the sport. I've been a lifelong football fan and a fantasy football addict for about 25 years, and I am fully planning to scale back on both hobbies next season.
Right.  I can't even have a conversation about football with my friends because i don't live in Massachusetts anymore, and pretty much everyone outside of New England that isn't a Pats fan still assumes that the Pats cheated.  Yes, they are stupid and the whole thing is ridiculous, but while I continue to enjoy watching TB12 play, my enjoyment of the sport itself is pretty entirely gone because of stupid shit like this.
 
Jerry Rice should have an * placed next to his HOF bust, apparently.  Oh, and throw out those two SB rings, Charles Haley.  
 
‘I’m going to be point blank, I feel like it’s cheating,” Rice told Rome on January 22.  “Because you have an edge up on your opponent and its unfortunate that it happened.  I’m not saying the outcome of the game would have been different or anything like that because they got beat 45-7, but they still had an edge.”
In that same interview, Rice added, “I’ve played in cold weather, I know how hard the football is and you can grip the leather [if deflated] just a little bit better.”
When it comes to playing football in any conditions, the challenge becomes not only throwing it but catching it.  And in the ESPN segment narrated by Jim Trotter, Rice nonchalantly made a stunning (in hindsight) confession:  Rice put stickum on his gloves.
“I know this might be a little illegal, guys, but you put a little spray, a little stickum on them, to make sure that texture is a little sticky,” Rice said, laughing.
It wasn’t a little illegal, it was a lot illegal. 
 
 
Complete article.  Of course Florio never put it on the front page of PFT....
 

nighthob

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Ed Hillel said:
Did anyone actually hear the Hailey interview? I'm not being hyperbolic in saying the guy actually said like 7 things that weren't real words. He said Brady lacked
"Inteddidy." I had to listen to some sentences like 5 times and even then was left guessing trying to figure out his gibberish. I actually feel bad for the guy, he is not all there.
Haley's just angry because back in his day they deflated their balls in the locker room the old fashioned way without a helping hand from the ballboy.
 

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LogansDad said:
Right.  I can't even have a conversation about football with my friends because i don't live in Massachusetts anymore, and pretty much everyone outside of New England that isn't a Pats fan still assumes that the Pats cheated.  Yes, they are stupid and the whole thing is ridiculous, but while I continue to enjoy watching TB12 play, my enjoyment of the sport itself is pretty entirely gone because of stupid shit like this.
That's not been my experience.  Most of the people I talk to in the NY area think the story is ridiculous, overblown and media nonsense. 
 
And they have a new, more credible meme: Seattle lost the Super Bowl more than the Pats won it!
 

Devizier

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Radiolab recently ran an episode on the history of American Football, focusing on Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indian School.
 
Relevant snippets from Sally Jenkins:
 
 
"American Football is essentially a rule-breaking experience. As opposed to British football, where they didn't have referees."
Everytime Pop Warner came up with an innovation, the next year there was a rule against it. And that's how the rule book really burgeoned...
 
 
 

Ed Hillel

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BannedbyNYYFans.com said:
Jerry Rice should have an * placed next to his HOF bust, apparently.  Oh, and throw out those two SB rings, Charles Haley.  
 
 
Complete article.  Of course Florio never put it on the front page of PFT....
Top story on ESPN? Lawyer makes joke about DeflateGate.
 

bankshot1

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TheoShmeo said:
That's not been my experience.  Most of the people I talk to in the NY area think the story is ridiculous, overblown and media nonsense. 
 
And they have a new, more credible meme: Seattle lost the Super Bowl more than the Pats won it!
That's been my experience as well.
 
The locals totally over-look that the Pats controlled most of the game, (except from 30 seconds to go in the 1st half to about 2/3 through the 3rd quarter) AND want to forget that Brady was nails in leading a historic comeback. And forgetabout equating Kearse and Tyree catches.
 
It has led to some flammable "Happy Hour" discussions.
 

slowstrung

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soxfanSJCA said:
Acquiescence was the spygate response, almost 8 years later and there has never been any actual "moving on" for so many people.
Letting things go now will just fan the flames, and extend the perimeter of casual fans that will now have 2 bullets attached to every NEP argument
regardless of the topic- spygate, ballghazi, etc.
 
I hope Robert Kraft goes full scorched earth if the NEP are fined/penalized over anything without clear indisputable proof.
If not for the NEP fans, than for the legacy of BB and TB.
 
If Roger Goodell has no proof and still acts, it may be his last decision as an NFL employee.
I don't speak 4.5 "billionairease", but i am pretty sure this is what Robert Kraft was intimating last week.
When you say "scorched earth," you mean the organization just flatly refusing to pay an imposed fine from Goodell, and making it known publicly? Is there any precedent for that? I searched a bit and couldn't find a similar scenario - I can't imagine it would end well for the Patriots, or that Kraft would go down that road.
 

E5 Yaz

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Ed Hillel said:
Top story on ESPN? Lawyer makes joke about DeflateGate.
 
During a murder trial. Yeah, I'd say that's a tad more interesting / important than Jerry Rice making a fool of himself
 

Ed Hillel

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E5 Yaz said:
 
During a murder trial. Yeah, I'd say that's a tad more interesting / important than Jerry Rice making a fool of himself
Could have fooled me, given the coverage on underinflated footballs/integrity of the game the past few weeks.
 

E5 Yaz

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Ed Hillel said:
Could have fooled me, given the coverage on underinflated footballs/integrity of the game the past few weeks.
 
Anyone at this stage who still looks at espn.com or watches ESPN and expects a different approach to Deflategate deserves the aggravation they feel
 

lexrageorge

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slowstrung said:
When you say "scorched earth," you mean the organization just flatly refusing to pay an imposed fine from Goodell, and making it known publicly? Is there any precedent for that? I searched a bit and couldn't find a similar scenario - I can't imagine it would end well for the Patriots, or that Kraft would go down that road.
Scorched earth response could mean a number of things:
 
a.) Bring down Goodell by rallying the owners.  
 
b.) Bring in the lawyers, basically challenging Goodell's authority to impose penalties when the evidence indicates that no wrongdoing occurred.  
 
c.) Begin massive PR blitz exposing the skeletons in the NFL closet with the direct intention of so damaging the NFL brand that Goodell is forced to resign. 
 
d.) Refuse to pay the fine.
 
e.) Boost Belichick's salary by whatever fine he is assessed by the league, and let the entire league know this was done.
 
f.) Refuse to take the field for the first game should Belichick or Brady be suspended.  
 
I don't see any of these ever happening except perhaps (a), which may happen anyway.  There's really no precedent for a team being punished for doing nothing wrong, along with there being evidence to back the assertion that the team did nothing wrong.  
 

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RememberTheGronkans said:
Here's what Mike Reiss had to say about the whole Haley thing:

"The thing I always stress is that anyone can have an opinion, but it takes work to have an informed opinion. Speaking for myself, when I'm curious about a topic, I usually try to find those I believe fall into the "informed opinion" category. In this case, Charles Haley doesn't qualify for me."
 
That's substantially superior to what many if not most high school students are being taught in their writing courses.
 
Positionism!
 

DaughtersofDougMirabelli

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BannedbyNYYFans.com said:
Jerry Rice should have an * placed next to his HOF bust, apparently.  Oh, and throw out those two SB rings, Charles Haley.  
 
Complete article.  Of course Florio never put it on the front page of PFT....
 
Rice already deleted one of his tweets calling the Pats cheaters...
 

soxfanSJCA

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lexrageorge said:
Scorched earth response could mean a number of things:
 
a.) Bring down Goodell by rallying the owners.  
 
b.) Bring in the lawyers, basically challenging Goodell's authority to impose penalties when the evidence indicates that no wrongdoing occurred.  
 
c.) Begin massive PR blitz exposing the skeletons in the NFL closet with the direct intention of so damaging the NFL brand that Goodell is forced to resign. 
 
d.) Refuse to pay the fine.
 
e.) Boost Belichick's salary by whatever fine he is assessed by the league, and let the entire league know this was done.
 
f.) Refuse to take the field for the first game should Belichick or Brady be suspended.  
 
I don't see any of these ever happening except perhaps (a), which may happen anyway.  There's really no precedent for a team being punished for doing nothing wrong, along with there being evidence to back the assertion that the team did nothing wrong.  
The concept of scorched earth I had in mind is very much embodied in the above response.
Specifically, I would imagine this as legal action which is a rare/unheard of, but potentially justified in this case.
 
If the NFL really let a marquee franchise go into an preventable media purgatory for 10 days based on a complaint from a rival GM,
and it has no decisive proof of any wrongdoing after an extensive external investigation , than it is legally exposed in a big F'n way.
 
Were i Kraft in this scenario, i would not only refuse the legitimacy of any proof-less penalty, but prevent it from ever happening again by 
dismantling the infrastructure that came up with it (scorched earth).
 
In other words, go entirely on the offensive if the NEP are in fact innocent of purposeful tampering (which really appears to be the case)
If punishments are rendered without any proof, clean house by way of owner alliances.
It is not hard to make a case to another owner that the NFL front office had a historically terrible year from a management perspective.
It is hard to screw up the golden goose, but a lot more people think the NFL is a total clown show than they did before this year started.
 
If the owners decline support, and opt instead to punish the NEP for disproportionate and sustained success, than
that is the way it is, but it should not prevent Kraft from trying to make things right.
In fact, better find out now than later..
 

snowmanny

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If, and this is a big if, but if the Colts deflated that ball, the NFL should fine them $25,000, have them switch draft positions with NE in round 1, and literally burn Indianapolis to the ground.
 

Stitch01

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I think I would pay $10,000 US dollars for the Wells Report to conclude that 11 footballs changed pressure due to natural variation and there is videotape of a Colt and League official deflating a ball on the sideline.  I would get at least that much value out of the absolute joy that it would be to write, post, twitter, call, and talk to all the Cheatriots and tainted ring clowns and watch them dance and squirm, particularly a few Colts fans in particular.  Those idiots blew this thing up so much that Goodell would have no choice but to really lay the hammer down on the Colts.  
 
The surprise onside kick up 38-7 at Indy next year will be super enjoyable as well. 
 

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snowmanny said:
If, and this is a big if, but if the Colts deflated that ball, the NFL should fine them $25,000, have them switch draft positions with NE in round 1, and literally burn Indianapolis to the ground.
 
$25,000. The Colts should pay the entire tab for the Wells investigation.
 

loshjott

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E5 Yaz said:
 
 
Until he tweets it himself, or reports it on ESPN, this falls into the category of throwing a bone to the local audience
 
Really. There are also people around the league who sincerely believe the Patriots tampered with footballs.  Neither report has a shred of proven truth.
 

E5 Yaz

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snowmanny said:
If, and this is a big if, but if the Colts deflated that ball, the NFL should fine them $25,000, have them switch draft positions with NE in round 1, and literally burn Indianapolis to the ground.
 
You want to improve the neighborhood?
 

Stitch01

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Rex Ryan and Woody Johnson are going to go apeshit for putting such stain on the AFC Championship Participant banner.
 

CantKeepmedown

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soxhop411 said:
 
PatriotsSB50 ‏@PatriotsSB49  2m2 minutes ago
Schefter on @WEEI today said there are people around the league who sincerely believe the Colts tampered with the intercepted football.
 
HA!
 
Merloni tried to get him to be more specific (your own friends, front office people, execs?), but Schefter wouldn't bite.  He just said, yeah, people believe it. It sounded like it was NFL people, but I suppose it could have been just regular dudes.  
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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E5 Yaz said:
 
 
Until he tweets it himself, or reports it on ESPN, this falls into the category of throwing a bone to the local audience
 
Maybe, if it were anyone else.  But this is Schefter.  He's not making it up, and he knows that whatever forum he uses to say something it's going to get picked up, because he's who he is.
 
The way this is phrased, it leaves a lot left open -- who are the "people," and is Schefter reporting it as some sort of crazy conspiracy as opposed to being something that is currently being talked about.
 
It will be interesting to see if this gets traction.  To me, it's salacious enough that it just might.  The downside is that it doesn't fit the narrative that everyone wants, but the positive is that it's a brand new narrative that is even more nefarious than letting air out of footballs.  If this were proven, it would put every other NFL "gate" to shame, except the concussion problem and possibly the bounty case, and I think those who deal in clicks and eyeballs will see that pretty fast.  One team trying to frame another would be about as explosive as you can get, albeit not quite as dramatic as deflate gate was because of the timing.
 
Edit:  Although, as I think about it, it's possible that Schefter is simply talking about Boomer Eisiason, who I guess qualifies as a "person around the league."
 

E5 Yaz

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Stitch01

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E5 Yaz said:
Schefter interview
 
http://media.weei.com/a/101661717/adam-schefter-espn-on-super-bowl-xlix-2-6-15.htm
 
Sounds to me like he acknowledges that this version of what happened is out there ... but nothing in his tone suggests it's the prominent theory
 
It falls into the category of acknowledging there are people out there who believe the Patriots have cheated in every game Belichick ever coached
So given the standard of proof established in this case, we can accept it as fact and proceed to discussing penalties.
 

E5 Yaz

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DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
 
Maybe, if it were anyone else.  But this is Schefter.  He's not making it up, and he knows that whatever forum he uses to say something it's going to get picked up, because he's who he is.
 
Disagree. Shortly after the Mortensen leak, Schefter was on EEI saying that it might have been only one of the 12 balls. It had no legs. Esiason's statement (on EEI) that this was a conspiracy had no legs.
 

E5 Yaz

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Stitch01 said:
So given the standard of proof established in this case, we can accept it as fact and proceed to discussing penalties.
 
If the league says it's investigating the Colts, sure.
 

Stitch01

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Nah, not holding back speculation that the Colts are lying cheaters that cheat because there is no idiot in the league office leaking shit.
 

Marciano490

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If the NFL wants to cover its ass by throwing the Colts under the bus I think I'd be ok with that.
 

Hoya81

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E5 Yaz said:
Schefter interview
 
http://media.weei.com/a/101661717/adam-schefter-espn-on-super-bowl-xlix-2-6-15.htm
 
Sounds to me like he acknowledges that this version of what happened is out there ... but nothing in his tone suggests it's the prominent theory
 
It falls into the category of acknowledging there are people out there who believe the Patriots have cheated in every game Belichick ever coached
 
It does line up somewhat with what the @SharksfromVegas twitter account said about the investigation focusing on officials and ElCab's post upthread about the Pats having video of the Colt's sideline doing something with the ball, albeit non-verifiable until official word comes out.
 

soxhop411

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Marciano490 said:
If the NFL wants to cover its ass by throwing the Colts under the bus I think I'd be ok with that.
and it still wont change people's mind about the pats "cheating" 
 

Hoya81

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We heard some rumors that the NFL believes the Colts tampered with the D'Qwell Jackson ball but they are still rumors at this point.
— Sharks of Vegas (@SharksOfVegas) February 6, 2015






The NFL report will come out before we can confirm that rumor though.....
— Sharks of Vegas (@SharksOfVegas) February 6, 2015
 

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Marciano490 said:
If the NFL wants to cover its ass by throwing the Colts under the bus I think I'd be ok with that.
 
 
And, see, it makes sense the league does given the leniency Irsay received after his pill popping, alcohol induced $29,000 joy ride. 
 
The fucker learned absolutely nothing. 
 

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Hoya81 said:
 


We heard some rumors that the NFL believes the Colts tampered with the D'Qwell Jackson ball but they are still rumors at this point.
— Sharks of Vegas (@SharksOfVegas) February 6, 2015
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 



The NFL report will come out before we can confirm that rumor though.....
— Sharks of Vegas (@SharksOfVegas) February 6, 2015



 


 
Second tweet is interesting. Friday afternoon bad news dump where the NFL admits they were duped by the Colts?
 
Too much to hope for.
 

dcmissle

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We'll need confirmation, obviously.

But if this were to prove out, there is no overestimating its significance. Other than deliberately throwing a game, I'm not sure there is much worse than creating fraudulent evidence that your opponent has violated the rules.

I don't know what that would get you in Roger Goodell's League because it's so capricious. In Adam Silver's League it would probably get the individual(s) a lifetime ban, with a long time before you could petition for reinstatement. And if a League official were complicit, he'd cut his balls off.
 

8slim

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If the rumor turns out to be true, it will prove that my 7 year old was right all along.  A couple days into the "scandal" he adamantly claimed that the Colts did it.
 
Perhaps I should have him interview for an NFL league office job?